Fear

"Mm-hmm..." A beach sounded nice. Carson could almost feel himself sitting on the sand on the Australian coastline where he used to spend his downtime. 

Almost dozing off, his stomach suddenly growls very loudly. Opening his eyes wide, a grin forms before he laughs. "I guess I better feed that thing before it gets loose." 

Sighing, he finally rights himself and stands to stretch and yawn. Seeming to have renewed energy, he bends down to sweep Misty up off the couch, holding her in his arms. Smiling, he gives her a long kiss. "You're the best. And you always will be." He stares her in the eye as if looking into her soul. "Don't you ever forget that." Another kiss follows before he carries her into the kitchen and finally sets her down. 

"Want me to get the plates out?" 

Tal felt as though he were surrounded in a very thick fog, dulling all of his senses. But he did hear a voice. It was soft... familiar... safe. Trying his hardest to pull himself from this strange state, his fingers tighten again around Ryan's hand. 

Yes, I'm awake. I'm here. What's wrong? Where are we? I hurt. Are you okay? 

The words seem to get stuck between his brain and his vocal cords, piling up in his subconscious. Swallowing hard, his throat felt as though he'd just drank a box of nails. A strange piece of torn memory surfaces for a brief moment, making him feel again the tube being forced down his throat. It was gone now though. What was happening? 

Light. Yes, there it was. Light. He had to lift his eyelids. He must. He had to find out what was going on. The work required just to open his eyes felt exhausting. But slowly, slowly, they crack open, just enough to view a very blurry world. 

Looking right then left, Tal finally sees a blurry figure standing over him. He blinks, trying to bring things into focus. Trying to turn his head, only proves to shoot pain down his neck so he doesn't attempt that again. 

Ryan? 

He squeezes her hand again, trying one more time. Finally a whisper makes it to the surface. "Ryan?" He blinks again, his eyes opening a little wider, helping clear the fog. Bits and pieces of the room slowly come into focus and his ears pick up the sounds of beeping and whirring again. Was he in a hospital? Why? What was wrong with him? Was he okay? 

Fear suddenly races through his veins, raising his blood pressure. "What's happening?" he asks hoarsely.

Alec pries his eyes open and stares at the digital clock that rested on the floor next to his mattress. He should have met the road crew two hours ago. He closes his eyes again and rolls over the other way, pulling his blanket up farther. Someone would show up soon. He knew it. And he didn't care... 

..."Alec!" Wyatt bangs on the door, hearing nothing. Growling, he finds the right key and opens up Alec's apartment. It only takes a moment to see the sleeping figure at the far end of the living room. "Hey! Alec!" 

Nothing. Wyatt suddenly wonders if there was cause for concern. Walking quickly to Alec, he kneels down and gives him a shake. "Hey. You alive?" 

Alec's arm flies back to smack Wyatt's shoulder. "Off me," he grumbles. 

Wyatt's eyes narrow. "Are you sick?" 

"I'm sick and tired," Alec retorts, his face still turned towards the wall. 

"Tough." Wyatt stands and gives the mattress a kick. "You were supposed to report to work. What happened?" 

Alec glares at the wall. "I decided I didn't want to go to work today."

"And since when have you been allowed to make that decision?"

"Sue me." 

Wyatt shakes his head in disgust. Heading back across the room, he retrieves his cell phone and calls back to the office. "Alec's fine - he's just playing stubborn. You wanna force him out to work, I'm gonna need backup. You want me to bring him in, I will." 

Reese sighs. "Well what do you think?" 

"I don't know!" Wyatt throws up his arms. Things between him and his father were still tense, and he was not in the mood to go back and forth about what they should do. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." 

"Okay fine. Bring him in and we'll see what's going on. He was fine the other day." 

..."What's up, Alec?" Reese was tired. There was too much going on for him to have to worry about Alec's bad attitude. After recent events, his tolerance for Alec in general was pretty thin the way it was. Knowing Wyatt had to just about drag him here was not helping. 

Alec sits in the break room - surprised he wasn't locked in the interrogation room again. He stares up at Reese with dull expression. "I'm tired and wanted to sleep." 

"Well maybe you stayed up too late." Reese frowns as he stands in front of him. "You've shown up every day for work until today. Why now?" 

Alec shrugs. 

Reese shakes his head. "You're pushing the limit, Alec. I'm still waiting for proof of what you did to Tal Donahue. You refusing to work is just one more count against you."

Alec doesn't respond. 

"Look at me!" Reese bends to his eye level. "What is wrong with you?!" 

Alec flinches. "You wanna put me behind bars? Is that what you want?" 

"It sure would be a lot easier than dealing with you." 

"Fine." Alec stands up to face him and holds out his wrists. "Lock me up. Go report to Brown, or the judge, or whoever, that I'm going around beating guys up and refusing to work." 

Reese's eyes narrow. "What are you trying to do, Alec? What's your game?" 

"I don't have a game," he hisses. "Everything has been ripped out of my hands - what do you expect me to do?" 

"I expect you to be appreciative of the fact that you're not already behind bars! You have a record ten miles long, which includes multiple counts of murder! Do you realize how lucky you are to even be standing here?!" 

Alec's hands drop. "So arrest me and be done with it." 

"If I do that, my program dies." Reese grits his teeth. "So help me, I will not allow you to be the cause of this program failing. There are too many other people from the Agency that need our help. I'll be hanged if I let you tear this thing down." He takes a step back and points to the door. "You have off work today and tomorrow to get your head back on straight. Now move!" 

...Alec trudges from TJY, having refused a ride back home. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, his feet scuff the sidewalk. He feared prison more than anything else, for sure. Being stuck behind bars. Having no freedom at all. Yet at the same time, it almost seemed better than this. Out here, he was taunted with what he wanted just out of reach. It was like dangling a carrot in front of a horse but never letting it have it. At least in prison he'd know he was there for life and couldn't do anything. Out here... it was just pain. Mistakes, stupidity and pain. 

"...So Mom said she might leave Kaylee with me for a day." Jason eats his Chinese food at lunch, sitting across from Katie at Tou Han's. The last couple days had been fairly quiet. He'd spent some time with his mom. Some time with friends. A little time with Katie. Nothing too exciting. Well - at least not that he knew. It didn't feel exciting to him. He'd avoided talk of Trey with his mother though, not wanting to broach that subject again, and while at work, he had made sure he didn't see Trey at all. Other than that, things seemed... normal. Eating supper a couple times with his mom and Katie had been enjoyable though. At least he had felt that much.

"I thought that might be kinda fun. Thought I might-" He's cut off by his phone beeping. 

Taking it out of his pocket and reading the text message, he grins. "Or maybe not. Sandy wants to meet Kaylee." Replying to the message, his grin remains. "She'd get a kick out of that. Maybe she'll even meet me us at the park or something. Apparently Kaylee likes the ducks." 

Finished with his message, he looks at Katie again, then purses his lips. "Oh... you work tomorrow, don't you? I forgot, I've got off but you don't."